


Goodbye Kiss

by Gadhar



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: AU-past, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 16:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2354393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gadhar/pseuds/Gadhar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You always leave without a goodbye kiss?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> A 'How Barney met Gunner' type fic. After writing [Ballet Tights](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2277375) and [galerian_ash](http://archiveofourown.org/users/galerian_ash/pseuds/galerian_ash) commenting "...I love getting glimpses of the characters' pasts..." I started thinking about how the team as we know it came together. Not sure how far it will go or who will necessarily be involved but...*shrug* For now, here's Barney. And Gunner. But mostly Barney.
> 
> Me owns nothing.

It's sunset. The desert winds are kicking up, flinging grains into the air and into his eyes, past the rubber of his goggles. 

He can feel the dirt and grit sticking to his skin, much like the weight of what he has to do clings to his mind. 

It's nothing new, a simple pull of the trigger, fingers against a neck if he can, some sort of proof and then there's money in his hand. 

Quick, simple, and it's not even down and dirty when you're 50 meters out, scope to your eye, and hot sand on your back. 

Still, Barney doesn't like this. 

The killing still gets to him, sometimes. He wouldn't be human if it didn't, but some guys need a bullet to the brain. 

This guy doesn't. At least, not as far as Barney knows. 

Hawk, his CIA contact, didn't give him much, not that he ever does but there's no indication this guy is a terrorist or a real threat to anybody. 

All he has is Hawk's word and the promise of a payday. 

That's all well and good but Barney trusts Hawk's asshole self-preservation instincts more than he does the green he's paid. 

Money ain't worth the shit this could bring down on him if he's wrong. 

Barney pulls a flask, takes a long swig of the water before trapping it away in the folds of his clothes: A vain hope to keep it cool. 

He readjusts his grip on the rifle, adjusts the dial and squints through the scope and sand to pan across the compound again. 

It's your typical compound for an illegal organization. Tall walls, no windows, armed guards. Very suspicious. 

Even with Hawk's intel, one of the thinnest files he's ever seen on _any_ target ever presented to him, the bastard was still hard to find. Barney had to track him and dig deep. But the little he came up with leaves him doubtful as to whether or not the target is even _here_. And if he is, Barney doesn't know his role; not in the organization and not in Hawk's big scheme. 

Barney spots a truck coming up the lane, tires spinning fast with little traction as it careens from side to side. 

It skids to a stop in front of the main building. Soldiers pile out of the front of the truck and then from the surrounding buildings, forming a circle. 

Barney wonders just what particular bigwig has shown up. 

The thing is, all the guns are facing _in._

The tarp is flipped back and in a blur Barney sees a a flash of blonde hair before a body is shoved out of the truck and into the dry sand of the ground. 

When the body stands, he towers over the soldiers who stumble back a few steps, their guns shaking. 

The prisoner is huge, a fucking _skyscraper_ with the muscle to match. 

Just looking at him gives Barney a headache. The guy reminds him of a Russian who used to use his head as a punching bag. 

Barney zooms in on the prisoner's face and, lo and behold, it's his target. 

_Gunner Jensen._

_Shit._ Hawk told him this guy was a danger but all Barney sees is a fellow man held hostage by a bunch of psycho zealots. 

If he hadn't already been doubting Hawk's intel, he probably would've pulled the trigger. 

Of course, he's always trusted his gut more than Hawk. 

Barney fidgets for longer than he should, finger too close to the trigger. _Never hold a gun you aren't prepared to use._

He's not prepared. 

Barney takes his finger off the trigger and watches through the scope as they escort the prisoner to the bowels of the compound. 

After that he watches the guards go back to their stations. 

Only then does he stand up, swinging the rifle onto his back before heading toward his own truck. 

Barney comes up with at least three ways for this to go and in each one of them he's fucked. 

xxx 

He comes back in the night, parking closer than he feels comfortable doing and hoofing it up the slope that leads to the compound. 

It's easy to take out the guards on the side entrance, where one could climb the wall. He lays down a few bricks of C4 as he goes, taking down as few guards as possible. 

On the inside he thinks about how ass-backward his plan is. He's running an op that usually takes three guys and he's got no clue about the layout of the compound. 

His best guess is head toward the center because that's where they always put the cells in the movies. 

So he moves, quiet and quick, into the epicenter of where he figures Hell must be because that's where he's going today. 

When he hits the detention area, all he smells is the heat-burned sand mixed with sweat and blood. It's pretty much how the rest of the place smells but without the night air to cut the edge. 

There's three guards in the center, one at a desk who's neck Barney snaps and another outside the only occupied cell who gets his windpipe crushed. 

The third is in the cell, laying into a downed figure with vicious kicks. 

Barney slits his throat. 

"If I give you a gun, will you shoot me?" 

The target rolls onto his back, breathing heavily as he eyes Barney's boot tips. "That's an oddly simple question for a man who just broke into a terrorist compound for a guy he doesn't even know." 

"What can I say? I'm a simple guy. Look, you're a bit too fair-skinned and blonde to be with these guys, so either come with me or stay, I don't care. But I'm blowing the place in 10 minutes." 

"I can go with you. That sounds good." 

xxx 

Barney admits this is going far better than he expected. Right up until they slam into a patrol of soldiers and instead of taking them down, quietly, Jensen whips out his borrowed gun and shoots everyone. Right between the eyes. 

"What the _fuck?_ Are you crazy?" 

Jensen shrugs, waving the pistol carelessly and grinning. "They're dead, aren't they?" 

Barney covers his face with a hand, thinking calm thoughts that sound a lot like murderous thoughts. "Yes, yes, they _are_ dead. That's great but the gun was a last resort. You're not supposed to be blowing people's brains out on a stealth mission. Damn Jensen, why even rescue you if you're just going to get us shot?" 

"Jesus, you're a grumpy bitch aren't you?" 

There's so many things he could say to that. _So many things._ Instead, Barney sucks down his words with a hiss and whips around, drawing his dual 1911's and shooting the group of soldiers thundering towards him. 

It's cathartic.

He turns to find Jensen applauding. 

"Let's get the fuck out of here." 

xxx 

They're skidding down a sand dune, Jensen practically rolling, when Barney realizes that he really doesn't want to shoot Jensen. Money be damned. 

It may have something to do with the way Jensen laughs as the compound blows or it may be the shouted, and occasionally inappropriate, jokes Jensen tells him. 

Hell, it might even be the witty banter. 

It's a damn unfortunate thing, but Barney's pretty sure he likes this guy. And at the end of this, one of them is probably going to die. 

He only had three scenarios. 

Still, when they slam the doors to the the truck, wheels spinning out as they run through the desert, Barney can't help but laugh to the point of suffocating as Jensen whoops beside him. 

"Damn man, I don't know who the hell you are or why you came but that was the most fun I've had in _weeks!"_

"I'm assuming that's because you've spent the past few weeks in a cell?" 

Jensen waves a hand. "You tell _one guy_ to go fuck himself and the next thing you know, you're being water-boarded by some psychos in turbans." 

"Oh," Barney snorts, voice thick with sarcasm. "Unbelievable. So rude of them." 

"I know, right?" 

They slip into silence after that, disregarding Jensen's constant stream of comments of 'Oh, sand. And over there? More sand! So exciting.' 

Barney wonders what Jensen's thinking under all that, if it's anything like the bloody thoughts he is. 

But Barney doesn't say anything about it, and when they hit the nearest village, Jensen is passed out in the passenger seat. 

Barney gets his stuff and leaves, leaving Jensen the truck. 

xxx 

Even in another country, on the other side of the world, bars are still sleazy places full of full-blown drunks and happily buzzed idiots. 

Barney's still deciding which side he wants to be on when the bar goes quiet and someone slides into the stool next to him. 

"You always leave without a goodbye kiss?" 

"You always track down your one night stands?" 

Jensen smiles, eyes sparkling in the dim light. "Only when I don't get my kiss." Jensen smacks his lips and Barney orders them both a drink as he laughs, flicking his thumb over a lighter. 

"You know I was hired to kill you?" 

"Yeah. Why didn't you? Hate them more?" Jensen shrugs it off like it's no big deal. Like this happens every day. And Barney realizes that might explain the really thin folder he was given on Jensen. And his ability to put bullets in-between people's eyes. 

Barney almost says something like 'They stole my gun' or 'They messed up my curry order.' But instead, he says something heavily influenced by the booze. "I saw you and I saw a brother." He leaves out the 'and maybe something more' because he doesn't know what that even means. 

Jensen is silent for the longest time before he says, "Huh." 

And then Barney says, "You wanna join my team?" Because why the hell not? He might as well since he's not getting paid and it will be good to give Trench something to bitch about. 

They need more guys anyway. 

"That is, unless you plan on shooting me. So, are you Jensen?" 

"Nah. I'm a nice guy." 


End file.
